Student Achievement Component

• • Domestic student status
  • Valid enrolments

Domestic student status

Learners with domestic student status:

• pay their tuition fees at the subsidised domestic rate rather than pay full-cost fees
• may qualify for access to student allowances and the Student Loan Scheme.

Learners who are not New Zealanders may be classed as domestic students for funding purposes. 

If learners cannot prove domestic student status they have foreign student status, are ineligible for SAC[1] funding (except for research postgraduate study), and pay foreign student fees. 

TEOs[2] need to identify which learners have domestic student status.

There are a number of requirements learner status outlined in the following rules:

Rule ENR002[3] Domestic student status - general
Rule ENR003[4] Domestic student status - learners on exchange schemes
Rule ENR004[5] Domestic student status - Diplomatic personnel and their families
Rule ENR005[6] Domestic student status - Diplomatic personnel and their families - departure
Rule ENR006[7] Domestic student status - international PhD students
Rule ENR007[8] Domestic student status - international PhD students temporarily overseas

• [1]

  Student Achievement Component fund (SAC)

• [2]

  Tertiary education organisation (TEO)

• [3]

  Rule ENR002: Domestic student status - general

  For the purposes of Student Achievement Component funding the following learners have domestic student status:

  • A New Zealand citizen, which includes citizens of the Cook Island, Niue and Tokelau
  • A New Zealand permanent resident currently living in New Zealand
  • An Australian citizen currently living in New Zealand
  • An Australian permanent resident who has a returning resident’s visa and is currently living in New Zealand
  • Certain exchange students (see Rule ENR003)
  • Diplomatic personnel and certain dependants (see Rule ENR004 and Rule ENR005)
  • Members of the armed forces of any country, on duty in New Zealand at the request of the New Zealand Government, or a crew member of a related transport craft
  • Certain persons involved with Antarctic scientific programmes or expeditions, while in the Ross Dependency
  • A learner with refugee status who is required to undertake a prescribed course of study or training to satisfy residency requirements
  • Persons with a Limited Purpose Permit, awaiting determination of their immigration status
  • Certain persons under the age of 18 placed under the care of the government department responsible for administering the Child, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989
  • An international student enrolling in a recognised Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme in a New Zealand university from 19 April 2005 and supervised by a leading New Zealand university researcher (see Rule ENR006 and Rule ENR007).
• [4]

  Rule ENR003: Domestic student status - learners on exchange schemes

  The following learners are classified as domestic students:

  • Persons who are in New Zealand to study under an exchange scheme approved by the Government
  • Persons who are in New Zealand to study under an exchange scheme approved by the council of the tertiary education institution at which the person is, or is to be, enrolled.

  Note: The New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS) approves all international student visas, which will identify the student as "domestic" or "foreign". Information is provided in the publication "Temporary Entry" available on http://www.immigration.govt.nz/.

• [5]

  Rule ENR004: Domestic student status - Diplomatic personnel and their families 

  Diplomatic personnel, their dependent children and other family members are entitled to domestic student status if they are citizens of a country with which New Zealand has a reciprocal agreement on tertiary fees and meet one of the following:

  • In the case of diplomatic staff, are not engaged in full time study
  • In the case of family members, form part of a diplomatic staff member’s household
  • In the case of a diplomatic staff member's dependent children, are less than 21 years of age on 1 January of the year of study. 

   

  Note: Learners in this situation must apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Protocol Division for domestic student status on form MFA 605. The Protocol Division will advise the tertiary education organisation directly of the learner’s entitlement to domestic student status for the current year.

• [6]

  Rule ENR005: Domestic student status - Diplomatic personnel and their families - departure

  The domestic student status of dependent children and other family members of foreign diplomatic personnel expires:

  • at the end of the year that the diplomatic staff member ceases to hold his or her position, and
  • in the case of dependent children, at the end of the year the dependent child turns 21 years of age if this occurs before the year in which the diplomatic staff member ceases to hold his or her position.

   

  Note: If a diplomatic staff member is approaching the end of their appointment, any dependent children and other family members wanting to complete their studies in New Zealand must apply to the New Zealand Immigration Service for a student permit at least one month before the diplomatic staff member’s departure.

• [7]

  Rule ENR006: Domestic student status - international PhD students

  To hold domestic student status, international Doctor of Philosophy students must be resident in New Zealand during their study, except for temporary absences for the purposes of their research as described in condition ENR007. A student enrolled in a New Zealand university but remaining resident overseas does not have domestic student status.

   

  Note: International PhD students with domestic student status are not eligible for student allowances or student loans.

• [8]

  Rule ENR007: Domestic student status - international PhD students temporarily overseas

  International Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students qualifying for domestic student status retain domestic status and continue to attract Student Achievement Component subsidies on that basis when temporarily overseas for the purposes of doctoral research, and that travel is consistent with the enrolling university’s requirements and regulations.

   

  Note: International PhD students with domestic student status are not eligible for student allowances or student loans.